News

Locally-based Ornithologist Dr. Taza Schaming was appointed as a Research Associate in 2023, and has been assisting Dr. Jeremy Kirchman, NYSM Curator of Birds and Mammals, in our specimen preparation lab, turning salvaged birds into research speci...

NYSM Historical Archaeologist Michael Lucas and his team were recently featured in the Times Union for their fieldwork and research leading to the identification of Albany-area farms owned and operated by African Americans during the 1800s. Dis...

  On Thursday, February 8 from 6-7:30pm, NYSM Historical Archaeologist Michael Lucas joins the New Amsterdam History Center for the online event, "Trash Talk: A Lively Discussion of 17th Century Refuse, Recycling, and the Reshaping of Mana...

The New York State Museum maintains its extensive material collections for the benefit of individuals and communities across the New York region and beyond. Increasingly, indigenous scholars, artists, and community members are accessing the NYSM's...

2024 marks the 250th anniversary of the Shakers coming to colonial America. The Shakers were a small sect of Quakers that started in Manchester, England in 1747. They were formally known as the United Society of Believers in Christ’s First and Sec...

  The Devonian Period occurred between 419.2 million and 358.9 million years ago. Devonian-age rocks in New York State have been utilized by geologists, paleontologists, and educators to study the development of life, understand geolo...

Mortimer Spiller was born in 1922 to Russian immigrants who settled in LeRoy, New York. Spiller’s college training in business and advertising was interrupted by service in World War II. After the war, he was eager to complete his education and pu...

Daniel Huntington (1816–1906) The Atlantic Cable Projectors, 1895 Oil on canvas

Geologists within the New York State Museum have been conducting geological mapping in partnership with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) for 40 years. This long-standing collaboration has helped the State Museum study and map the distrib...

Archaeologists from the NYSM’s Cultural Resource Survey Program kicked off this year’s field season with a survey in the Hudson Highlands in an area overlooking the Hudson River not far from Manitou Mountain. This is within the traditional homelan...

Happy Fourth of July from the NYSM! This bald eagle, currently on display in Birds of New York Hall, is one of the oldest specimens from our collections and even pre-dates the discovery of the Cohoes Mastodon by sixteen years! The specimen, an adu...

July 1 through December 3, 2023   |   NYSM Lobby Join the New York State Museum in celebrating the release of the second edition of The Motorcycle Industry In New York State: A Concise Encyclopedia of Inventors, Builders, an...

Although slavery in New York State was abolished on July 4, 1827, the institution of slavery in the United States did not officially come to an end for another thirty-eight years. On June 19, 1865, more than two years after the Emancipation Procla...

On view in New York Metropolis Hall Commemorating the 982 Jewish Holocaust refugees who found temporary respite at Fort Ontario, Oswego, New York, during World War II, "The Fort Ontario Refugee Shelter (1944–1946)" tells the poignant story of r...

In 2019, bones dating back to the late 18th century were uncovered at a Lake George Village construction site. For the past four years, NYSM bioarchaeology staff Lisa Anderson, Julie Weatherwax, and Alexandra DeCarlo have been working together wit...

On view in New York Metropolis Hall It is estimated that within the United States, the sale of black-market ivory is a $23 billion industry. New York City is the center of this disturbing business. Between 2015 and 2018 the New Yor...

This article originally appeared on the National Endowment for the Humanities website. The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) today announced $35.63 million in grants for 258 humanities projects across the country. Grants awarded ...

Billions of Moneta and Annulus cowries from the Indian Ocean were traded for enslaved people along the west coast of Africa from the 15th through 19th centuries. Much larger reticulated cowrie helmets, native to the w...

Madam C. J. Walker (1867–1919) was a successful entrepreneur, businesswoman, philanthropist, and social and political activist during a time when both African Americans and women were not common in the world of business. In 1906, she started her o...

On view in New York Metropolis Hall  The State Museum’s collections represent the diverse achievements of women across New York. This new exhibit feature brings together objects and artworks that highlight the contributions of women. Audie...